Banbury School is a fully comprehensive school with about 1350 students. The Sixth Form receives students from Banbury School Year 11 as well as other secondary 11-16 schools in the area. The Sixth Form has expanded in recent years and now has about 280 students.

Due to high employment levels in the area the free school meals percentage does not accurately reflect the levels of social and educational deprivation at home for many of our students. 55% come from three of the most deprived wards in the area. Having said that there are also students who have highly advantaged home circumstances. The school is multicultural and multiethnic, and fully comprehensive.

Our recent (May 2007) Ofsted graded the school consistently good with outstanding care, guidance and support, demonstrating the care for, and focus on, each individual student in their own right.

The school has long had the reputation of providing opportunity for career development and there is a regular turnover of staff, generally for promoted posts elsewhere. We have been a Training School since September 2000. We were the LEA’s ‘Early Adopter’ school for workforce remodelling, recognising that the school is at the forefront of the national agenda, where we remain as Oxfordshire’s First Trust School. From September, we will be part of the first federation in Oxfordshire; a formal relationship with Dashwood Community Primary School, where there is one governing body for the two schools.

In September 2007 we were designated a Specialist Humanities School with English, Drama and Citizenship as our focus subjects. Results at GCSE for 2008 are the highest, by a long way, that the school has ever achieved and well above national levels.

The intake of the school, as measured by KS2 test data, is significantly lower than that of Oxfordshire on average and this is to a lesser extent reflected at KS3 and KS4, showing good value-added at KS4, when prior attainment is considered. Student achievement in 2008 was in the top 16% nationally. The results from Sixth Form students are very successful – adding value from GCSE, to an outstanding level and are, in the main, advanced level students with a small group of intermediate (level 2) students.

Currently 14% of students have English as an additional language with just under 20 different languages spoken. There has been a significant rise in the numbers of students on the SEN register in the last few years, particularly with BESD and SpLD, with around 30% on the register in Years 7 – 11.

The school is unique in its energy and vibrancy. The fully comprehensive nature of the student body makes it a challenging job for teachers who may teach A level one lesson and then lower set Year 8 the next. It is hard work, but every day staff know that they make a difference to the youngsters they teach.  Our professional involvement in the continued improvement and success of the school is hugely rewarding and we are absolutely committed to being the best school in Oxfordshire and one of the best in the country.

Fiona Hammans
Principal

September 2009